


Till the end of the line

by Crimsun



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Spies & Secret Agents, Angst, Fluff, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-04
Updated: 2018-05-04
Packaged: 2019-05-01 18:14:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14526330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crimsun/pseuds/Crimsun
Summary: Donghyuck is a secret agent with too much time on his hands. Mark is a secret agent who has a troubled past. The agency thinks they're perfect to be partnered together permanently.Add an odd mix of understanding stemming from past encounters of doing missions together and Donghyuck's lingering feelings from his crush on Mark, there just might be hope for something more.(Spoiler: There is.)





	Till the end of the line

**Author's Note:**

> Hello world,
> 
> I did a poll on Twitter for an assassin/secret agents au and here it is. This will be chaptered and I hope you guys like it! I have an ongoing monstrosity of a fic and several other fics in mind but I am invested in this fic, so rest assured.
> 
> Also, English is not my first language so proceed at your own risk. 
> 
> Title from Captain America : Civil War
> 
> Shoutout to my favorite sunflower, Bhea for listening to my rants in our Holy Chatbox™.
> 
> Happy reading, y'all!

Donghyuck pushes the heavy glass door open with one palm pressed flat against it, trying to hide his limp from the laser vision of Johnny as he shuffles inside the man’s cabin. Said man is hunched over his desk, a Springfield XDS 9mm in front of him, round glasses perched on the bridge of his nose, eyes running over a file with utmost concentration.

“Sit down,” Johnny says, voice even, not even looking up at Donghyuck.

Donghyuck pokes his tongue out and mimics the words without voicing them out loud, sitting down on the uncomfortable metal chair, frozen from the air-conditioning.

“You know that the Springfield is one of the best guns for concealment, right? Leaving it out in the open like this, asking it to rebel against its divine purpose,” Donghyuck sighs in fake disappointment, “I expected better from you, hyung,” he clicks his tongue and puts his elbows on the table.

The corners of Johnny’s lips curve up but he doesn’t lift his gaze from the file. Donghyuck sighs in annoyance at being ignored.

Johnny finally looks up at him with an eyebrow quirked and looks back at the file, reading out “Agent 77, my incredibly fortunate partner was a huge roadblock in the mission and I request pocket-sized partners from now on, ones who can actually crawl through vents and not scream for Jesus Christ who in the situation was Agent 0606 aka me. Regardless, the mission was successful, no thanks to Gulliver. P.S. He smelled nice.”

Donghyuck shrugs, smiling when Johnny’s face breaks out into a wider smile. It’s nice to see the elder man relax around him even in the constant state of exhaustion he always seems to be stuck in. It is one of the reasons why Donghyuck actually sits down and takes his time to write the wittiest mission reports despite hating report writing, the other reason being that he couldn’t possibly let his title of King of Wit float away from him by writing mediocre, mundane and gag-worthy real reports.

His stomach twists tumultuously at just the thought of actually using code words from their agency’s lexicon to compose a mission report.

“I’ll let Yukhei know that you think he smells nice,” Johnny says, closing the file and keeping it aside but not before putting a bookmark between the pages.

Donghyuck fake gags, “Sure but I’m not into him like that. Also, he is so sickeningly whipped for Jungwoo hyung. It was so annoying, hyung. Ugh! I was trying to catch up on sleep and he was whispering on the phone about eternal love and I’m glad I fell asleep before he actually started reciting lines from Romeo and Juliet. I’m expecting that wedding invitation.”

Johnny gives him a knowing look. Donghyuck just glares back at him, daring him to refute his words.

“Why did you summon me, demon?” Donghyuck asks, not wanting to stretch the conversation out any more than is necessary, gaze lingering on the purple bags under Johnny’s eyes and the aspirin bottle hidden behind the penholder.

“I’m sure you know who among the two of us is a demon,” Johnny smiles at Donghyuck’s loud protests and continues, “but I called you up because we have another mission, starting next month.”

“But I have the recon job on Draken in Ukraine next month,” Donghyuck has been doing research for the mission since Doyoung had mentioned that he would have to go undercover. But now, looking at Johnny, he knows that the mission has probably been forwarded to someone else.

“The Draken one was rerouted to Yuta. Taeyong will go with him. We got confirmation that going undercover wasn’t necessary.”

Donghyuck nods, hands slightly fidgety from the way Johnny is looking at him. There are a lot of things in that look but mostly it’s hope and a lot of trust. More than all that there is expectation as clear as ever and Donghyuck is curious but at the same time, he’s a little nervous.

“What’s the mission?” He asks, throwing a laugh into the mix to alleviate the tension in the room brought upon by Johnny’s stiff demeanour.

“The mission is in Seoul. It’s a kill order.”

Donghyuck looks at Johnny as if asking what the big deal is. He’s gone on a million jobs. In fact, the last one he went on with Yukhei was a month-long recon mission which ended with them killing a couple of enemy agents. He doesn’t get what the issue is.

“Okay, but what’s the hype for? You seriously look like you’re gonna bust a vein, hyung.”

Johnny doesn’t laugh like Donghyuck expects him to.

“The mission isn’t what I’m worried about,” Johnny pauses to run a hand through his long, commercial-worthy hair.

“Then what? I hate this buildup. Just spit it out.”

Johnny lets out a long suffering sigh.

“You’ve been assigned a permanent partner.”

Donghyuck could honestly fist bump the lords. He can die in peace now. Getting a permanent partner officially meant higher priority missions and a lot of adventures to look forward to. He didn’t join the agency for fun but regardless having a partner whom he can bond with and lean on during the times when the job inevitably gets to him is perhaps the exact thing that Donghyuck has needed in his life.

Someone to have his back.

The agency has a couple of very good agents, people whom Donghyuck likes doing missions with but even then, he hates the way it’s a different person every time. He has found himself wondering if the person he is assigned missions with would put their life out on the line for him the same way he would.

There has been several incidents, way too many for him to ignore it just like that, where he ended up being in the direct line of fire with no backup. Regardless, he knows some agents who would protect him and have done so when need be, Jeno, Yukhei, Jaemin and a couple of others but he wasn’t always assigned missions with them and it was kind of disturbing to go out on missions when his loyalty wasn’t reciprocated.

Hell, it still is daunting to go out on a mission knowing that his partner could shoot him dead if he was a lesser priority than the mission.

Keeping this in consideration, having a partner, one that is permanent, is a dream come true for him and he isn’t even exaggerating. Perhaps the past six years have hardened him inside but even then, he’s young and no matter how much he flaunts that he isn’t scared of killing or dying, he is.

“You know I’ve always wanted a partner, hyung. What’s wrong with that?” Donghyuck questions.

“He’s a little... little fucked up, Hyuck,” Johnny says, looking a little lost.

“Aren’t we all?” Donghyuck shoots back, Johnny’s gaze running over his face in concern. “Let me guess, a mission gone wrong?”

Johnny nods but contrary to the usual reaction he gets when he deduces something, there isn’t the slightest bit of amusement on the elder’s face.

“I’m fairly sure he lied his way through the psych eval,” Johnny explains.

“Who was it? I mean, who did the eval?” Donghyuck can’t help the curiosity.

“Irene. She said his answers were _too_ right. Like, he had conditioned himself to answer in _just_ the right way to get back on the field.”

Donghyuck knows what that means. He’s lied his way through his fair share of psychiatric evaluations and de-briefings. Irene is always the hardest to lie to but she is helpless when the agent no matter who it is, answers without showing extreme emotions.

His partner must be like him, Donghyuck realizes, if he was able to shoot down Irene’s incredibly scrutinizing and invasive questions.

“We’ve all been there,” Donghyuck tries to justify his partner’s actions. Johnny gives him an unimpressed look.

“We have, but this is different, Donghyuck. His last mission... if you read his file, you’ll understand why I’m feeling quite divided here, but I have no right to divulge personal information so you’re on your own. Minseok hyung specifically requested you by the way. He’s the one who called me up yesterday to tell me about the order from the HQ.”

Donghyuck likes Minseok. He remembers being trained by the man when he was still at their current base. The last time he saw the shorter man was a couple of months back in Daegu when he was on a mission with Jaemin. He wonders why Minseok had to specifically request for him when anyone could have been chosen for the job. It’s not like he’s complaining but they did have a wide array of extremely skilled agents to choose from.

“Why did he ask for me though?” Donghyuck can’t help but ask.

“I don’t know but you know this guy.” Johnny says, stretching his arms, yawning.

“I do?” Donghyuck frowns in confusion.

“It’s Mark, Donghyuck,” Johnny states coolly, his eyes twinkling a bit, a noticeable shift in mood from before.

Oh.

_Oh._

Of course. He should have known right when Johnny mentioned Minseok that it was Mark Lee.

For one, they’re definitely not strangers, but there’s a bit of a problem.

Donghyuck used to have a Jupiter-sized crush on Mark back when they were grouped together for a couple of missions a few months ago. Donghyuck had bitten off Jeno and Jaemin’s ears on so many days than he is willing to admit to wax poetic about how hot, smart and just... perfect the other agent was. Jeno had even given his infatuated heart hope saying that there was a chance they might become each other’s partners since the agency never sent the same combination of agents on consecutive missions if they didn’t have their reasons.

But shattering all of Donghyuck’s dreams, Mark had disappeared silently after ruffling his hair, a tiny smile on his lips about eight months ago after two months of companionship consisting of a fair share of assassinations, roof jumping and adrenaline rushes.

Donghyuck hadn’t imagined a house with a white picket fence or three children with Mark but he had definitely dreamt about heated kisses, sharp jawlines, veiny arms and lingering touches enough times even after the missions ended for him to feel a little shaken by the reveal of who his partner was going to be.

“Oh,” He finally says when Johnny calls out his name again because of his unresponsiveness.

“Yeah. Oh. I know you had a crush on him but he’s not the awkward agent from before, okay? I met him in the morning. He seems very different and I need to know if you’re in because if you aren’t, then Mark will get a new partner and you’ll be assigned someone else a week from now. HQ wants you to have a permanent partner even if it isn’t Mark,” Johnny explains but putting it like that, Donghyuck doesn’t want to reject Mark, especially when, despite being ignorant of Donghyuck’s feelings, he had been a great source of support, someone he can picture doing a hundred, thousand missions with in the future.

Mark is someone Donghyuck trusts despite knowing him for a very short time and for now, that’s enough for him to nod firmly in answer to Johnny’s enquiring look.

“I’m in. Does he know about this?”

“He does. That’s why he’s here. He knows that you can reject the offer. It was a shitty move on HQ’s part to be honest. What if you had actually rejected him?”

Johnny’s lips press into a thin line in annoyance at just the thought of it.

“HQ is literally a hub of assholes and shitheads, hyung. I don’t know why you keep being surprised every time they pull something like this,” Donghyuck says, unamused.

“Well, true. I have too much hope in humanity,” Johnny sighs.

“The flaws of the ways of righteous men,” Donghyuck drawls, a smile playing on his face.

Johnny’s freezes, expression hardening a little.

“There’s nothing righteous about what we’re doing here, Donghyuck,” Johnny argues and the mood tumults again.

“We wipe out crime without getting the majority’s hands dirty, hyung. We’re literally staining our souls here. For the greater good.”

Donghyuck states it casually but there has been multiple times, much more than he’ll ever acknowledge when he questioned the ethics of the agency but questioning never got him anywhere and so he had ultimately decided to trust his instincts. So far, it has been a fine ride, slightly bumpy but not significantly so.

The greater good is still a word he needs more explanation to believe in but nonetheless, it’s always there in the back of his mind as a justification when his fingers pull the trigger, as a consolation when the life bleeds out of countless eyes.

Johnny gulps down the coffee from the styrofoam cup and clears his throat, grimacing a little at what Donghyuck assumes is the amplified dirty water taste of the coffee when it gets cold.

“Briefing tomorrow. You get a month to get reacquainted. Cut back on the snark a little. He already has a little too much on his plate.”

Donghyuck nods. He wants to defend himself against the obvious stab and say that his sarcasm comes with the territory but then he remembers how he used to be with Mark several months ago and he doesn’t think that cutting back on the snark will be an issue.

“You are still limping by the way. Don’t think I didn’t notice,” Johnny notes, frowning at him.

“It’ll be fine in a few days.” Donghyuck reassures.

“It better be,” Johnny says, voice pointed in that way Donghyuck knows the elder man tries to show his concern. Donghyuck rolls his eyes.

“Also, he’s probably at your apartment by now. Don’t worry, he already has the keys,” Johnny says, smirking a little and honestly, this is the reason why Donghyuck has trust issues.

The man was a sleep deprived, emo, protective mess just moments before and now, he’s giving Donghyuck a predatory smile and God, he really should have opted another career.

Then, what Johnny said dawns on him.

“WHAT THE FUCK, HYUNG? THERE’S PIZZA FROM TWO MONTHS AGO IN THE FRIDGE AND MY UNDERWEAR IS ON THE COUCH!”

 

***

 

Donghyuck shoves his car’s keys in his pockets and places his hand on the door knob. He is about to twist it when he notices the sweat lining his palms, his hands slippery on the smooth metal.

“Okay Eminem, this isn’t the time to demonstrate lyrics from your hit song,” Donghyuck mutters to himself, a little more than just anxious.

This is life-changing.

Mark’s going to be here for a long time.

The realization warms him a bit.

Maybe a lot.

He’s a fucking assassin for God’s sake.

Assassin, secret agent, spy, infiltrator.

He is at a crucial time of his life but he can’t help the onslaught of the Marvel cinematic parallel.

Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist.

Mr. Stark needs to fuck off, Donghyuck thinks pointedly.

He hears the familiar sound of footsteps on the floor, heels clicking against the marble floor of the corridor and he just knows it’s the woman who lives on the apartment next to him. Any normal neighbour would stay and talk, ask and answer questions about the fucking weather and be on their merry way but Donghyuck isn’t any normal neighbour.

(He might have called the woman a “homophobic bitch” to her face after she mumbled “disgusting” under her breath when she had seen Jeno standing with his hand around Jaemin’s waist, the other boy’s head on his shoulder as Donghyuck struggled with his keys. He remembers threatening to burn all her Gucci stuff if she so much as looked at his face ever again. You cannot possibly blame him because first of all, Jaemin was bleeding out from a bullet wound to his shoulder and second of all, homophobic people are truly the scum of the earth and deserve a stern talking to.)

The woman resolutely keeps her gaze on the floor as Donghyuck twists the door knob and steps inside his apartment, toeing away his shoes to the side.

He shuffles through the hallway, socked feet creating muffled thumps and he hopes that Mark is aware that he is in the apartment. Post-mission trauma is another way of saying that your brain is literally two types of eggs, scrambled and fried to a crisp and the last thing he wants to do is get a bullet lodged in his skull because he didn’t warn an agent enough.

A part of his brain whispers conspiratorially about how it would be nice to die with Mark’s beloved and well-cherished FN Five Seven. It’s a macabre thought but Donghyuck has no idea why his brain is travelling in that direction.

He drops his car’s keys intentionally on the floor as a warning even if he is mostly certain that Mark knows he is inside. A little precaution never hurt anyone.

When he shuffles to the living room, the takeout boxes and plates from the week’s dinner saga has disappeared, certainly Mark’s work.

Donghyuck is slightly embarrassed seeing that his underwear and shirt which he stripped in the morning have also been taken away.

Great first impression, Donghyuck, he praises himself with a grimace. Suddenly, there is a rush of thoughts inside his head including eleven different ways to kill Johnny, all of which include Ten and knives and he smirks to himself.

Mark, however, is still nowhere to be seen.

“Hyung?” He calls out, opening the door to his room only to catch Mark whipping around with a wild look in his eyes, the frame, the one where Jeno is bridal carrying Jaemin, slipping from his hands.

There is the familiar sound of glass breaking and perhaps, Donghyuck enjoys it a bit because it’s been a while since he’s heard glass shattering from a mundane slip of the hands and not from a rifle, a grenade or a body.

“Oh,” Mark says and there’s a tense moment thick with silence, the elder man looking between his hands and the frame lying face down as if quite unable to figure out how exactly he dropped it.

Then there’s a string of apologies being sputtered out and Donghyuck shakes his head, holding his hands out in a way one would approach a scared animal, his heart clenching a little at the comparison because Mark Lee, unlike Johnny’s observation hasn’t changed much, not really. He’s still awkward and turns into a bumbling mess whenever something unexpected and totally random happens by his hands and it has no relation with the way the man can hack into a high security enemy facility’s network or how he can knock out men who are thrice his size with a single, aimed right hook.

“Hey, hyung,” Donghyuck breathes, smiling as he side steps a particular large glass shard.

Mark stops sputtering, sighing, smiling back, a little hesitant in true Mark Lee fashion and then he’s pulling his airpods away from his ears and Donghyuck gains the confidence he didn’t know he had lost because for a second he had doubted if the last mission had fucked up Mark enough to make him lose his senses.

Perhaps he’s also focused on the custom black sun sticker on the left airpod. Perhaps he’s also a little ecstatic, _a lot_ actually, after his head belatedly processes that Mark is using the gift Donghyuck had bought him on their mission in Canada.

“Hey, Donghyuck,” Mark says, voice a little deeper than Donghyuck remembers for some reason, hands shoving the white ear pieces inside the pocket of his black jeans.

“I’m sorry for lurking. I was cleaning up and noticed the photo.”

Now, Donghyuck can see what Johnny meant by different. Mark is still Mark but anyone who really knew him would notice the way he’s a little tense, eyes too intense and words carefully weighed.

“It’s okay. You didn’t have to but thanks for cleaning up anyway,” Donghyuck says, attempting to ease the man into the conversation so that he won’t be so tense anymore.

Mark crouches down as if about to clean the mess on the floor and Donghyuck speaks up, “I’ll get the broom. You’ll hurt your hands.”

He hurries back with the broom and a dustpan. Mark is still right where he is, eyes focused on a shard of glass like he has some sort of vendetta against said object.

“Hyung?” He calls out and Mark blinks once as if he’s having trouble with processing words right now. Donghyuck feels off-kilter, and so he shakes his head and kneels on the floor, sweeping the bits of glass onto the dustpan.

“Is this...did they get married?” Mark asks, when Donghyuck straightens up.

Donghyuck smiles and nods, lips curving up on their own.

“When?”

“Two months ago. It was a private ceremony.” Donghyuck doesn’t divulge more information because Mark doesn’t look like he needs more and he watches the other’s eyes soften then, genuine happiness filling them.

“That’s nice,” He comments and it’s just two words, three if one cross sections it, but somehow there’s more sincerity in it than the tens of wishes Jeno and Jaemin had received when they got back to their base a day after their wedding.

“Yeah, it is,” Donghyuck says, stepping on the dustbin, the lid opening for him to deposit the shards inside it.

Mark is staring at Donghyuck and he feels like he is staring right into his soul.

“I assume you made your choice?” He questions when Donghyuck raises an eyebrow, a little irritated that he might not get the desired sassy look, what with the broom and dustpan ensemble but he still tries.

“I did,” Donghyuck answers.

Mark opens his mouth once and clears his throat, “You’re on board with this?”

Donghyuck can see the traces of the Mark he went on missions with months ago again and it’s endearing. His heart which has gotten used to thumping loudly only in the presence of gunshots, spinning helicopter blades and grenade explosions react for the first time in a long time to a boy again and he is so on board with this, Mark literally has no idea.

“Yeah, I am,” Donghyuck says, hoping to sound as sincere as he means it.

Half the tension in Mark’s body dispels right in front of Donghyuck.

“Are you sure? This is for life, Donghyuck. This is serious. This means that we’re gonna have to put each other first and it’s a shit load of commitment and it’s--,”

Donghyuck doesn’t let Mark ramble on, “I know what this means,” he pauses, resting the broom against the wall and drops the dustpan, said object clattering to the ground and he takes a step forward, taking what is left of the frame from Mark’s hands and puts it on the table.

“ _This_ is for life, you’re right and I’m with you till the end of the line.”

Donghyuck exhales heavily and looks at Mark with earnest eyes.

“Donghyuck, did you just... quote... Captain America?”

Mark asks, thick eyebrows knitted in a frown.

“If you’re Team DC, you’re sleeping on the couch.”

Donghyuck announces, strutting away, retrieving the cleaning equipment. When he steps out of the door, passing the threshold, he hears Mark fondly grumble out “ _Brat_ ” followed by a single bout of quiet laughter.

Maybe Donghyuck’s lips curve up without his own volition.

Maybe.

**Author's Note:**

> That Eminem reference is to the line "His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy" from Lose Yourself. Yes, Avengers Infinity War is the reason behind all the Marvel references.
> 
> I love you for reading!! Comments fill my soul with eternal summer and kudos keep me warm. Let me know what you think in the comments section or hit me up on my [cc](https://curiouscat.me/Crimsun) or [Twitter](https://twitter.com/_Crimsun_)


End file.
